Legends About The Devil's Chair
You Probably Shouldn't Sit In The Devil's Chair
If you're ever in Kirkville, Missouri, in Guthrie Centre, Iowa or you ever visit Cassadaga, Florida in the United States, you can go take a look at The Devil's Chair.
Each location boasts having the Devil's Chair in a local cemetery.
Then again, if you're not ready to make any pacts with dark forces or the Lord of Darkness himself, you might want to AVOID these places.
Photo Source: http://www2.truman.edu/~adavis/mipages/bairdchair....
In the photo is an item called "Baird's Chair," located at Kirksville, Missouri, on the town's east side, within the Mary Immaculate Cemetery
Devil's Chair
Urban Legends
Some urban legends state that if you go to the cemetery and you sit in the Devi's Chair in the late hours, something bad will happen to you right at Midnight.
Other legends don't focus on the Midnight witching hour but say, instead, that a bad something will happen, according to the number of times you site in the Devil's Chair:
Sitting in the Devil's chair once will bring you bad luck
Sitting in the Devil's chair twice will bring a curse down upon you
Sitting in the Devil's chair a third time...
...and the hand of DEATH will reach out and grab you!
Consequently, the third time in the Devil's Chair will be your last.
The Devil's Chair in
Cassadaga, Florida
Urban Legends surrounding this particular Devil's Chair are well circulated partly due to Cassadaga's reputation as a town with a higher than expected population of occultists, spiritualists, mediums, and related sorts. Located in a cemetery somewhere between Cassadaga and Saint Helen, close to Saint Helen, there sits an armchair made of brick and mortar, positioned right beside a grave.
Many of the occultist tales depict the Devil in a rebellious good old boy kind of persona, and one legend in particular says that if you leave an unopened can of beer behind on the Devil's Chair, you can return to find the can empty of contents in the morning. Some accounts assert that the can will just be lighter with the liquid gone away, even though the can still appears as unopened and tamper-free. In some accounts, the entire can will have disappeared by morning.
If you are brave enough to sit in the chair and wait a little while, legend has it that the Prince of Darkness will show up to engage in chat with the person with courage enough to stick around.
Video on the Spiritualist Camp - at Cassadaga
Promo vid for Cassadaga.
Devil Tales - Tales and Legends
Stories, legends, tales with the Devil in them
The Devil's Chair In Kirksville, Missouri
Baird's Chair
The Devil's Chair at Kirksville Missouri is located in the Mary Immaculate Cemetery. This Devil's Chair is also known as "Baird's Chair," because while many other devil's chairs have no date marker or name, this one has the name, "BAIRD," carved on the back of it.
Naturally, the Mary Immaculate Cemetery has become a site for, and the chair has become an object for "Legend Tripping," (acting out of urban legends or dare games), so this legend continues to be told, to grow, change and circulate.
The person involved in the making of this chair, of course was named Baird - and he carved his name in the chair.
John C. Baird was an experienced and skillful marble cutter. He was both an officer at the Baird and Grassle marble dealership and a superintendent founder of the Highland Park Cemetery Association. This part about Baird is no legend. Baird was a real person. In fact, records on Baird are easy to locate with minimal searching. His wife was named Eva and they lived during the late 1800's and early 1900s.
Both Baird and fellow officer, Grassle, worked on the chair, with Grassle adding the Victorian cushion and buttons.
It is said that to find out more of the history of this Devil's Chair, you have to speak to one of the old timers at Kirksville - whose parents told them stories about the cemetery and the Devil's Chair. Apparently, the old timers still know the old stories but rarely talk about the legend attached to this old tombstone-chair.
Union Cemetery Devil's Chair
Guthrie Center, Iowa
The legend of the Devil's Chair in this Iowa location is very interesting and unique because the legend, from other sources, seems to have been attached to the chair.object at quite a late date.
The actual chair is a cement-cast chair and it goes back to the late 1800's, but the legend surrounding the char has only been around for about 30 years or so. The cement-cast item can be found right in the Union Cemetery and the cemetery was originally established as a private burial ground in the year 1885.
Devil's Chair and Related Items - on Amazon
Amazon Books and Gifts - About The Devil's Chair
Please feel free to say a few words. If you know a region where a Devil's Chair exists, let me know and I may be able to research a few details and put another Devil's Chair legend or location on this lens for you.